The CW does the ABCs of super hero cross promotion. With 2016 sure to be remembered as the year the Comic Book Movie wars formally began, The CW will be taking a page from ABC’s playbook – promoting DC/ Warner Bros’ upcoming slate of comic character mash-up projects, as ABC did for Marvel/ Disney’s TV/ MCU insider specials. Not only will the pair of half-hour specials preview The CW’s spinoff of Arrow & The Flash, DC’sLegends of Tomorrow, and Warner’s big screen Batman v Superman & Suicide Squad films, they will also serve as an introductory preview to the DC/ Warner’s overall joint cinematic agenda. In other words: the Justice League.

Press release for DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: Their Time is Now:

An in-depth look at the origin stories of the heroes and villains from “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow,” including madman Vandal Savage, the time master Rip Hunter, and the motley band of heroes and rogues he assembles to try to save the future of humanity (Hawkman, Hawkgirl, White Canary, The Atom, Firestorm, Captain Cold and Heat Wave).

Purely some cynical reading-between-the-lines, on my part, but tapping Kevin Smith to host this insider extravaganza seems an awful lot like DC making up for losing Joss Whedon to the MCU, some years back (he wanted to do Wonder Woman, they passed). Well, now they got a trusted fan-boy guru of their own – set to direct an episode of The Flash, at some point, even – and just in time to exploit Whedon stepping down from the MCU high chair. Isn’t that convenient? … Or coincidence – it’s all marketing, anyways. What was I saying?

The Hour of Power (actually title), featuring DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: Their Time is Now, and DC Films Presents: Dawn of the Justice League, airs Tuesday, Jan. 19 at 9 p.m/8 p.m. Central, on The CW. DC’s Legends of Tomorrow premieres Thursday, January 21, at 8PM, on The CW, while Suicide Squad is scheduled for an August 5, 2016 U.S. cinematic release. Justice League is set for… inevitable.

About the author

Sam Joseph

Sam is an Avid consumer/observer of Geek culture, and collector of Fanboy media from earliest memory. Armchair sociologist and futurist. Honest critic with satirical if not absurdist­­ wit with some experience in comics/ animation production.